Web exclusive: Manteno police start DNA program to help locate missing children
02/05/2008, 8:15 am
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By Bill Byrns
bbyrns@daily-journal.com
815-468-7349
Manteno police have started a new campaign to help locate missing children.Samples of DNA were taken this morning from all new pre-school and primary students in the Manteno School District as part of a stepped-up program to help identify missing children.
Other students in the district were fingerprinted last year, according to Manteno Police Lt. Joel Whalen. Those records are still useful for establishing the child's identity.
But DNA is the wave of the future, he said.
"We are switching over to DNA testing this year because it is the most reliable source of information for identification," Whalen said.
Parents are given a sealed envelope containing a swab with their child's DNA sample. Police recommend that parents store the swab in a cool, dark and dry location.
Members of the Manteno Parents-Teachers Organization assisted with the program.
"DNA is considered the 'gold standard' among tools to identify missing children," said Nancy McBride, safety director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"It's terrific that they (Manteno Police) are doing this and giving the DNA samples to the parents for safekeeping. Nobody should have this material except a parent or guardian," McBride said.
More than 2,000 children were reported missing last year, according to the Illinois State Police.
"Nationwide there were nearly 800,000 missing children reported during a one-year period," said McBride, citing U.S. Justice Department reports.
Of those, 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions with over 58,000 abducted by non-family members according to federal records.
Manteno was the first local law enforcement agency to fingerprint children in 1983 as a means of identification. Nearly 240 Manteno children were fingerprinted in April of that year following the abduction and murder of two 10-year-old children from Naperville and Bolingbrook.
Whalen said that there are several steps parents can take to help identify a missing child:
* Keep a complete description of the child;
* Take color photos every six months;
* Have your dentist prepare up-to-date dental charts and X-ray prints;
* Know where your child's medical records are located.
"We hope parents will never need to use this information," McBride said. "But it will be important should the need arise."
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